Pedestrian Hit by Stolen Clayton County Vehicle

Clayton County police had a complicated case to deal with this past week.

According to authorities, a car that was reported stolen from the victim of a recent homicide in Jonesboro was involved in a serious crash. The driver is facing 13 charges after crossing a median and driving into oncoming traffic. This resulted in the vehicle crashing into a pick up truck, a van, and a local restaurant. During this accident, a pedestrian was also hit. The pedestrian was taken to a nearby hospital with what was described as severe injury to his lower body. An update on the victim has not been given by physicians yet.

As a Georgia DUI Lawyer, I will outline the offense of serious injury by vehicle in today's post as that is what it the driver of the stolen vehicle will be facing.

Serious Injury by Vehicle in Georgia

Serious Injury by Vehicle in Georgia is defined by the Georgia Code in O.C.G.A. §40-6-394 as:

Whoever, without malice, shall cause bodily harm to another by depriving him of a member of his body, by rendering a member of his body useless, by seriously disfiguring his body or a member thereof, or by causing organic brain damage which renders the body or any member thereof useless through the violation of Code Section 40-6-390 or 40-6-391 shall be guilty of the crime of serious injury by vehicle. A person convicted under this Code section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than 15 years.

By law, a serious injury is defined as: fractured bone, severe burns, disfigurement, dismemberment, partial or total loss of sight or hearing, or loss of consciousness. Moreover, a serious injury does not need to be permanent in order to be considered serious. A serious, temporary injury is sufficient and only needs to impair or injure the appearance of a person.  In the past, injuries such as loss of vision in one eye, blurry vision, a two-inch scar on the forehead, broken ribs, and severe bruising have all been considered serious injuries by Georgia Courts. It is up to the jury to determine whether an injury is serious.

This law does not require that any malicious intent to harm be proven.  As a result, defenses such as where a person did not intend to get in an accident or commit the offense of reckless driving in Georgia in order to be charged with serious injury by vehicle.

Practice Note

Call us today if you or a loved one has been arrested or cited for serious traffic violations such as serious injury by vehicle or DUI in Georgia.